Cameron Hamilton confirmed as FEMA administrator by Senate

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm former Navy SEAL Cameron Hamilton as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of a slate of 74 Trump nominees that also included David Cummins for the Transportation Security Administration and Daniel Perez as ambassador to Brazil.

Hamilton, who previously served as FEMA’s temporary leader before being dismissed for opposing the agency’s elimination, will take over an organization of more than 20,000 employees that has lost over 4,300 staff members in the 2025 budget year. He inherits challenges such as bureaucratic delays, a backlog of disaster aid, and a busy summer disaster season with wildfires, flooding and over 1,000 open disaster declarations.

During his Senate hearing, Hamilton pledged to keep FEMA "objective, fair and reasonable," to reduce bureaucracy, and to pursue cost‑saving measures while maintaining consistent handling of disaster claims. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of politicizing disaster relief, noting an Associated Press analysis that the president approved about 80% of requests from Republican governors versus roughly 60% from Democratic governors.